First Law of Thermodynamics

October 16, 2014

The first law of thermodynamics is the conservation of energy applied to ther-

mal systems.

Here, we develop the principles of thermodynamics for a discrete system,

namely, an air parcel moving through the circulation. A thermodynamic system
can transfer its internal energy by changing the temperature (or phase) of another
system of it can use its internal energy to do mechanical work on its surroundings.
Two types of properties characterize the state of a system. Some of them
depend on mass:

Intensive properties Do not depend on mass - like pressure and temperature

Extensive properties Depend on mass - like volume

Transformation An intensive property z can be defined from an extensive prop-

erty Z by dividing by mass of the system m so z = Z/m, and the intensive
property is referred to as a specific property.

Thermodynamic variables describe the state of the thermal system, and the
ideal gas law relates these variables. We can very usefully describe the state as a
point on a two-dimensional plot, such as a p-V diagram, a p-T diagram, or a V-T
diagram. Changes, or transformations in the state of a thermal system can be rep-
resented as curves on such diagrams - at least if thermal equilibrium is established
at every stage of the transformation. A change in which thermal equilibrium is
maintained throughout, such as the sufficiently slow compression of a piston in an
insulated cycling is called a reversible process. Conversely, a gas expanding

1
Reversible process Is one where thermodynamic equilibrium is maintained through-
out, such as the sufficiently slow compression of a piston in an insulated
cylinder.

Irreversible processes Is one in which the system’s changes cannot be retraced,

such as gas expanding to fill a vacuum through an open stopcock.

1. Heat Flow
1. Heat flow is a transfer of energy.

2. Thermal systems have internal energy related to the system’s thermal prop-
erties.

Heat transfer can happen via diffusion, thermal conduction or radiation, for
an open system it can occur through absorption of water vapor (latent heat). For
many applications, heat transfer is secondary to processes introduced through mo-
tion, which operate on timescales of order one day and shorter (particularly in the
boundary layer) In the free atmosphere and away from clouds, the prevailing form
of heat transfer is radiative. Operating on a timescale of order weeks. If no heat
is exchanged between a system and its environment, the process is adiabatic, and
diabatic otherwise. Adiabatic approximation is a good approx. in many cases be-
cause heat transfer is slow compared to motion.

The connection between heat flow and temperature change is the heat capac-
ity, C (which is always positive). A small heat flow dQ into a system will change
the temperature by a small amount dT with proportionality constant C:

dQ = CdT (1)
The value of the heat capacity depends on the material and is proportional to
the mass. We can define the specific heat c as the heat capacity per unit mass
(dq = cdT ).

Note: If we decrease (increase) the heat flow from a substance with a large
specific heat capacity, such as water, the temperature of the substance will fall
(rise) only slightly. This is why large bodies of water have strong moderating
effects on the climate in their vicinity.

2
1a. Heat flow depends on the path
While heat capacity is defined in terms of temperature change, the conditions for
temperature change are not unique. The proportionality constants between heat
absorption and temperature change define the 1) specific heat capacity at constant
pressure:
dqp
cp = (2)
dT
and the 2) heat capacity at constant volume:
dqv
cv = (3)
dT
where the subscript denotes isobaric and isochoric processes respectively.

Example: Transformation in P − V space following two different paths.

1b. Phase changes and heat flow

When there is phase change, there is no temperature change even though there is
heat flow. The heat flow necessary to bring about the transformation from solid
to liquid is the latent heat of fusion (Lf = 79.6cal/g for ice. The heat flow goes
into changing the molecular arrangement of the substance. The heat necessary
to convert 1g of water at 100◦ C at 1 atm to 1 g of steam is called latent heat of
vaporization (Lv = 540cal/g) which goes into breaking intermolecular forces.

1c. Mechanical equivalent of heat

Example: Joule’s churning paddle experiment.
As the paddles do a certain amount of work on the water, the temperature of
the system will have risen by a definite amount. The experiment demonstrated
that there is a precise equivalent between work done on a system and the heat flow
into it, so heat flow is an energy transfer.

1cal = 4.185J (4)

Mechanical Equivalent of heat

3
Figure 1: Phase Change of water

4
2. Work done by Thermal Systems
If we restrict our analysis to a system comprised of a gas, and consider only work
done by or on the gas by expansion or compression. The example of the cylinder
of fixed cross-sectional area with a fitted movable frictionless piston (Fig 3.4).
The pressure-volume thermodynamic diagram of the states of the system is also
shown. As the piston moves outward an infinitesimal distance dx the work done
while its pressure remains essentially constant at p is:

dW = F dx (5)
= pAdx
= pdV

2a. Work depends on the path

The work done by the substance when the volume increases by a small increment
dV is equal to the pressure of the substance multiplied by its increase in volume.
In going from A to B, the work done by the material is equal to the area under the
curve.
Z V2
W = pdV (6)
V1

If V2 > V1 , W is positive and the substance does work on its environment.

If V2 < V1 , W is negative and the environment does work on the substance.

Using specific properties:

dw = pdα (7)
If we think of the work done by a thermal system as the area under a curve of
p vs V , the fact that work done depends on the path of the change becomes evident.

3. Internal Energy
In thermal (internal) energy is associated with the energy of the molecules of a
thermal system. Changes in internal energy, are not path dependent. This con-

5
trasts sharply with work or heat flow which are path dependent. So we can write:
Z B
dU = UB − UA (8)
A
We can’t actually do this with work or heat flow because we need to know the
path. We will not change the mathematical notation of dW or dQ, but keep in
mind these are not true differentials. Internal energy is purely a function of state.

4. First Law of Thermodynamics

Let us imagine a closed system (in which the total amount of matter is kept con-
stant), that receives a certain quantity of thermal energy dQ. Of the total amount
of heat added to a gas, dQ, some may tend to increase the internal energy of the
gas by an amount dU and the remainder will cause work to be done by the gas in
the amount dW . In algebraic form:

dQ = dU + dW (9)
It is more useful to express this equations in terms of specific properties (divide
by mass) z = Z/m where Z is an extensive property that depends on the mass m
of the system, and z is an intensive property that doesn’t depend on the mass.

dq = du + dw (10)
This is the mathematical formulation of the First Law of Thermodynamics and
embodies three related ideas:

1. The existence of an internal energy function

2. The principle of conservation of energy

3. definition of heat as energy in transit

dq = du + pdα (11)
note:

• Change of internal energy between two states is path independent, so the

change of internal energy vanishes for cyclical processes.

6
 • The work performed by the system and the heat transferred into it is path
dependent
We can introduce the state variable enthalpy:

h ≡ u + pα (12)

dh = du + d(pα) = du + αdp + pdα (13)

and the first law in terms of enthalpy becomes:

dh = dq + αdp (14)

4a. Joule’s Experiment (Internal Energy of Ideal Gases)

Two perfect gases at pressures p1 and p2 are brought into contact and allowed to
equilibrate.
• No heat transfer takes place with the environment dq = 0.
• Volume of the system (of the two gases) doesn’t change dw = 0
• Internal energy then doesn’t change du = 0
There is no change in internal energy but the equilibrated pressure did change,
so u isn’t a function of pressure. Consequently, u = u(T ) and the internal energy
is a function of temperature alone and enthalpy is a function of temperature alone
h = h(T ).

4b. Heat Capacity

The specific heat capacities are related closely to the internal energy and enthalpy
of the system.

dq = du + pdα (15)
For an isochoric process this reduces to:
 
dqv ∂u
= = cv (16)
dT ∂T α
This means that the heat capacity at constant volume measures the rate of
internal energy change with temperature during and isochoric process.

7
 In a similar fashion we can use enthalpy expressed as h = h(T ):

dq = dh − αdp (17)
For an isobaric process this reduces to:
 
dqp ∂h
= = cp (18)
dT ∂T p

This means that the heat capacity at constant pressure measures the rate of
enthalpy increase with temperature during and isobaric process. Over ranges of
pressure and temperature relevant to the atmosphere, the specific heats may be
regarded as constants for an ideal gas. The change of internal energy during an
isochoric process is proportional to the change of temperature alone, and similarly
for the change of enthalpy during an isobaric process.

Integrating Equations 2 and 3 with respect to temperature yields finite values

of internal energy and enthalpy, which are unique up to constants of integration.
It is customary to define u and h so that they vanish at a temperature of absolute
zero.

u = cv T (19)
h = cp T (20)

We can express the first law in terms of specific heat and using the ideal gas
law d(pα) = RdT

h−u pα
cp − cv = = =R (21)
T T
3 5
For a monoatomic gas cv = 2
R, for a diatomic gas cp = 2
R, since air is
mainly diatomic.
Specific heats for dry air:

• cp = 1004.5JK −1 kg −1

• cv = 717.5JK −1 kg −1

8
 And we define the dimensionless constants

γ = cp /cv = 1.4 (22)

κ = R/cp ≈ 0.286 (23)

To summarize, the first law can be expressed as

dq = cv dT + pdα (24)
dq = cp dT − αdp (25)

For isochoric and isobaric processes reduce to:

dqv = cv dT (26)
dqp = cp dT (27)

4c. Adiabatic Processes

If a material undergoes a change in its physical state without any heat being added
or withdrawn from it, the change is said to be adiabatic. For an adiabatic process,
the first law reduces to

0 = cv dT + pdα (28)
0 = cp dT − αdp (29)

Dividing through by T and introducing the gas law transforms

0 = cv d ln T + Rd ln α (30)
0 = cp d ln T − Rd ln p (31)
0 = cv d ln p + cp d ln α (32)

which can be integrated to obtain Poisson’s equations that define adiabatic

paths in the state space of an ideal gas. This means that the change in a single
state variable, ogether with the condition hat the process be adiabatic determines

9
the change of a second state variable. Adiabatic system possesses only one inde-
pendent state variable and only one thermodynamic degree of freedom.

T αγ−1 = const (33)

T p−κ = const (34)
pαγ = const (35)

Poisson’s equations describe a family of contours known as adiabats in the

plane of any two of the state variables p, T and α in the same way that isobars de-
scribe isobaric processes, isotherms describe isothermal processes and isochores
describe isochoric processes.

Figure 2: Salby 2.8

10
4d. Potential Temperature
Potential temperature θ is defined as the temperature assumed by the system when
compressed or expanded adiabatically to a reference pressure of p0 = 1000mb.
Using Poisson’s equation 35, an adiabatic process from state (p, T ) to the refer-
ence state (p0 , θ) is
θp−κ
0 = Tp
−κ
(36)
So the potential temperature is described by
 κ
p0
θ=T (37)
p
Theta is a state varaible and invariant along an adiabatic path in state space.
Adiabatic behavior is a good approximation for many atmospheric applications
because over a fairly large scale of motions, the timescale for an air parcel to ad-
just to changes of pressure ant to perform expansion work is short compared to
the characteristic timescale of heat transfer.

4e. Meteorological Thermodynamic Charts

i. Adiabatic chart (Stuve Diagram) Based on the adiabatic equation 37, is based
on the linear relation between T and pκ . Adiabatic processes follow straight line
paths on a thermodynamic diagramwit hcoordinates of T vs pκ

ii. Skew T-log p Diagram One way to display these changes is on a Skew T -
ln p chart. On this chart, dry adiabats are slightly curved lines that run from the
lower right to the upper left with an angle between isotherms and dry adiabats of
approx 90◦ . This diagram was developed by the US Air Force in 1952

4f. Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate

Remember, for an adiabatic process

cp dT = αdp (38)
dT α 1
= = (39)
dp cp ρcp

11
 Figure 3: Rogers and Yau, 1.4

Since
dT dT dp 1 g
= =− ρg = − = −Γ (40)
dz dp dz ρcp cp
Γ = 9.8◦ Ckm−1 is the dry adiabatic lapse rate. This shows that as the air
parcel ascends (descends) dry adiabatically, its temperature decreases (increases)
at the fixed rate of nearly 10◦ C per km.

4g. Diabatic Processes

Under diabatic conditions, the system interacts with its environment thermally
as well as mechanically. This occurs near the surface (thermal conduction and
turbulen mixing) or inside clouds due to the release of latent heat. The potential
temperature of an air parcel is then no longer conserved, but now θ changes in pro-
portion to heat transferred into the system. The increase of potential temperature
is a direct measure of the heat transferred into the system.

12
Figure 4: Pielke Blog

13